It is not unusual to hear sentiments expressed along the lines that all insurance is more or less the same and therefore, you may as well take the cheapest you can find.

What’s the reality?

Cost is important

It would be a brave person to suggest that cost is anything other than a key factor behind insurance selection in the 21^st century.

Times are tough and advertisements for the cheapest motorcycle insurance are always likely to be attractive.

Yet going out to purchase the cheapest policy you can find really does beg two questions:

• is all motorbike cover essentially the same;

• what role does the price of a policy pay in the event of a claim?

The nature of policies

This isn’t really a matter of opinion – it is a simple plain fact that no two policies are likely to be identical.

For example, some policies offer specific cover for younger and inexperienced bikers.  For a younger rider, these may prove to be considerably more cost-effective than a standard policy from an insurer who, to put it frankly, may not be very interested in what they consider to be high-risk categories of policyholder.

Clearly, from the point of view of the younger or more inexperienced rider, these two policies are unlikely to ever be seen as being more or less identical.

To take another example, you may find one policy that contains extensive European riding cover as part of its standard cover provision.  Another policy may not offer this cover at all, unless you pay an additional premium.

If you are a biker interested in being able to pop over to the continent at short notice, then the fact that a UK-only policy might be lower cost is, to you, irrelevant.

The bottom line here appears to be self-evident. The cheapest policy around might not be the one for you if it does not provide you with the minimum cover you need.

The context of a claim

Even if you find the above arguments to be less than convincing, you might wish to ask yourself what would be your first course of action in the event that you needed to make a claim.

Would you either:

•    immediately rush to your bank statement to see how much you had been paying for your insurance policy over time or;
•    immediately rush to your policy to see whether it covered the circumstances that had resulted in your need to claim?

If you selected the second answer then the conclusion for you may be clear – the cheapest motorbike cover for you might not be the best!  Instead, you might wish to focus a little more on the cover the policy provides at the time you are making your decision as to which policy to purchase.

Save money on your life assurance policy

There are often many special offers and discounts when buying a life assurance policy so take advantage of these to make great savings. Ask for a quote first of all, brokers can arrange this quickly by using their database of some of the most well-known insurers in the UK, this will give you an idea of your monthly payments. Whole life insurance is usually more expensive than term assurance as it will pay out when a claim is made, term assurance means your family won’t benefit unless you die during the policy’s lifetime so is consequently cheaper to buy in the first place.

Interesting information about life assurance

The length of the term of life assurance along with the size of the payout can be decided by you, both affect the monthly cost so the bigger the payout and the longer the term means the more expensive the policy will be. Make sure you understand the difference between guaranteed and reviewable premiums, guaranteed premiums stay the same throughout the term of the policy while reviewable premiums are generally cheaper at the outset with costs rising when the insurance company carries out their regular premium reviews. Joint policies for husbands and wives are more reasonably priced but the life assurance policy lapses after the first death with the survivor being left without any life assurance cover.

Recommendations

Brokers recommend clients to live healthily and buy life assurance policies when they are young, they push up premiums for those people who smoke as they are more  likely to make a claim which in turn means smokers pay nearly double than those who don’t smoke. Try to kick the smoking habit although insurance companies prefer their clients to have stopped smoking for at least one year before they will consider insuring them. Losing weight too will also put you on the right side of life assurance professionals, if you are carrying a few extra pounds try exercising and eating sensibly. Insurance companies ask many questions before selling life assurance packages so be honest as this could invalidate your policy preventing your family receiving financial help if you died.

If time is not on your side

If you have learnt you have a terminal illness and time isn’t on your side, your insurance policy will pay out to your family so they can organise a good send off for you as well as receiving financial help to pay for any outstanding debts, mortgage or loans you may have had. Shop around now before it’s too late and compare life assurance quotations to start the ball rolling, make contact with online brokers who will help you with any aspect of buying the right insurance for your needs.

You can vist lifeassurancequotes.org.uk to compare quotes online.

• the overall benefits of your own private health care insurance are likely to include such elements as faster, more flexible and more convenient access to diagnosis and treatment when you need it;

• you are also likely to be looking for high standards of care whilst you are in hospital, with a private room and unrestricted visiting hours;

• you may also wish to check whether the health plan in which you are interested also offers a round-the-clock help line, with 24-hour access to a telephone consultation with a general practitioner;

• it is important to bear in mind that there are many, many different types, levels and options of private medical insurance available;

• when seeking your health insurance quote, therefore, you may also need to keep this broad range in mind whilst deciding on the overall level of cover which is likely to best suit your needs and your pocket;

• at one end of the scale, for example, might be a more basic, low-cost plan that provides everything you might need in the event of hospitalisation, but which provides little, if any, cover for outpatient care, consultation or diagnosis;

• at the other end of the scale may be the more inclusive, comprehensive type of cover that covers everything from outpatient to inpatient care and may even include such alternative practices as osteopathy and chiropractics, or psychiatric care;

• if you are a frequent traveller, you may also want to give some thought to whether cover should be extended on an international basis, so that you may be treated under the same terms and conditions wherever in the world you happen to be (in that case, you might note that many plans vary according to whether or not travel to the United States is involved – because of the relatively high cost of medical care in that country);

• when seeking quotes, you may also want to keep in mind the generous discounts frequently available if you include more than one individual in the same health care plan;

• thus, a family health plan is likely to be cheaper per individual covered than an individual health plan, whilst a group (or even a whole company) plan is likely to cheaper still;

• as with many other types of insurance, you may wish to take into account the typically quite significant reduction in premiums that may achieved by taking on a relatively higher voluntary excess – the general rule of thumb being, of course, that the higher the excess, the lower the premiums;

• in choosing your health insurance provider you may also find a preference for those offering telephone support and guidance in selecting the right health care plan for you (and, if appropriate, your family).

Having spoken with Key Worker Insure.com, the reason for this discount that is applied to your car insurance, is due to the fact that the successful completion of a security clearances means that, from a moral standing, you are considered less likely to make a fraudulent claim.

Obviously you would not want to just speak to any insurance company about what your job in the forces involves. Key Worker Insures’ Managing Director, John Tansley, has previously served in the forces where he gained a DV clearance, and as such, it is he who deals with all clients who have a security clearance in the armed forces.

We think that this is a positive step forward in driving down the cost of your insurance, where you can actually now get a discount on your car insurance just for being in the forces, and for the actual job which you do!

There are some companies, however, which are willing to look at other factors surrounding your profile which may lead to a discount for your car insurance. At InsuranceOverAGrand, we are fortunate in that we work specifically with some of the UKs most nimble insurance companies, meaning that we can offer you discounts for your car insurance which cannot be found elsewhere.

It may be that you have other circumstances which insurance companies could take into account when giving you a quote for your car insurance. For example, you may have elements of ‘exceptional hardship’ which were taken into account when you received your motoring convictions. These mitigating circumstances may be able to be taken into account with our partners, as long as you mention them when obtaining a quote.

Insurers prefer to insure modified cars which perhaps have been modified in order to keep the original spec of the vehicle. For example, if you own a car where the engine has been uprated following an engine replacement.

It is vital when buying car insurance for your modified car that you disclose all modifications to the insurer. Although it might cost you a bit more initially, it won’t cost you as much as it would do if, for example, following an accident you find that your insurance company will not pay out on your car because they find out that they have ended up insuring a car with modifications which they usually would not cover.

It is far better to be upfront, and then have the peace of mind knowing that you are correctly and fully covered. You may also be at risk of getting a conviction for no insurance if you do not disclose all of the vehicles modifications to your insurance company.

Several of our panel members deal specifically with car insurance for grey imports meaning that by submitting your details with us, you can be rest assured of getting the best quote for the car insurance for your grey import.

If you have owned your car for a couple of years, then this can sometimes help to bring the insurance down, but don’t be tempted to incorrectly state that you have owned the car longer than you have, because most insurers will ask for a copy of the V5 certificate

Insurers will also charge more to insure high performance cars, as they are more likely to be stolen. Most prestigious cars are stolen to order. The thieves will steal your car, and will often leave it for a few days in a garage in order to see if it has a tracker. They will then ship the car out of the country, and the car will never be seen again. Most organised criminal gangs will steal a car specifically in the commission of an offence. It goes without saying that a high performance car will often aid the offenders in making a quicker getaway.

A combination of these factors mean that getting cheap car insurance for high performance cars can often be tricky. Even if, for example, your car is now 10 years old, and is only worth a few thousand pounds, the car grouping in relation to its performance will still stay the same.

At InsuranceOverAGrand.com, we work specifically with insurers who understand that people are finding it increasingly harder to get car insurance for high performance cars. That is why we are able to get a quote for car insurance which cannot be found elsewhere.

It may be the case that you have totted up a collection of standard fixed penalty notices for offences such as SP30’s (speeding) TS10’s (traffic light offences) & CU80’s (using handheld device – such as a mobile phone). Finding cheap car insurance for convicted drivers with a collection of points can be hard, but at InsuranceOverAGrand.com we work with specialist companies who know that they are often circumstances behind the convictions.

IN10 convictions (or driving with no insurance) are becoming increasingly more frequent. Many individuals fall foul of this conviction because, for example, they have not renewed their Policy, or have not kept up their payments. An IN10 is what they call an ‘absolute offence’ meaning that once the offence is committed (i.e. you drive or keep your car on a public road, and it has no insurance on it, then the offence is committed). Fighting a no insurance conviction can be very hard, and costly. If you have mitigating circumstances then sometimes the court will give your 3 points as opposed to 6 and a reduced fine. However, it is the offence code IN10 which causes the insurance to increase, not necessarily the fine amount / points.

Finding car insurance for drink drive convictions is often much harder than trying to find car insurance for other convictions. This is because driving whilst over the limit through drink or drugs is inherently dangerous. Your ability to control your car whilst under the influence is greatly reduced meaning that the chances of you having an accident are also greatly increased.  This is why car insurance for drink drive convictions is often more expensive. However, if your ban was for 18 months or less, and you have over 2 years no claims bonus which is not older than two years, and is in your own name can often help to reduce your premium.

In summary, car insurance for convicted drivers is generally more expensive as you are seen as being at a greater risk of having an accident. However, our specialist insurers and brokers are committed to ensuring that you receive a quote for your car insurance which cannot be found elsewhere.